Stephanie Román is the Chief of Staff of Programs at Democracy Fund, an independent foundation working to ensure that our political system is able to withstand new challenges and deliver on its promise to the American people. In this role Stephanie supports program leadership by driving alignment and integration on cross-programmatic priorities as well as fostering collaboration across program staff on shared goals and tactics.
Stephanie joined Democracy Fund in 2019 and served for five years on the Elections and Voting program. As the Program Manager for the Elections and Voting team, she supported grantees and designed strategies to ensure that the views and votes of citizens come first in our democracy.
Prior to joining Democracy Fund, Stephanie was a Policy Advisor at UnidosUS. There, she worked on multiple policy issues including civil rights, higher education, and economic security and served as the in-house policy expert and bilingual spokesperson on civil rights and student debt issues. Stephanie started her career as a Fulbright Scholar in Mexico City, Mexico, prior to joining the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. In 2017, she served as the William R. Hearst Fellow with the Aspen Institute’s Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation.
A Los Angeles native, Stephanie has a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Pomona College.